Vilnius Žalgiris summer signing Danny Lupano has revealed how conversations with the club’s management convinced him to move to Lithuania, while also reflecting on his time at Birmingham City academy, where he shared the dressing room with current Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham.
The 25-year-old defender, who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo before moving to Belgium as a child, said he already knew about Žalgiris before the transfer. “The opportunity came through my agent. After that we had a call with the manager and the sporting director, and they convinced me to come here,” Lupano said in a video published on the club’s social media channels.
“I already knew about Žalgiris, about how big the club is and about their European matches. About Lithuania, not so much, but I knew a little because I had a cousin who played here before.”
Lupano explained that he left Belgium for England as a teenager, initially to continue his education before football changed his life. “I was born in Congo and moved to Belgium when I was around 11. At 16 I went to England. Initially I moved there to stay with my aunt for school, but I was spotted while playing at school and invited for a trial at Birmingham.”
After spending several weeks with the club during a training camp in Austria, he earned his first professional contract. “It was all new to me because I wasn’t used to the language. I wasn’t speaking English as well as I do now, and the culture was very different from Belgium. But I adapted and ended up spending five years in England. I really enjoyed it.”
The defender said Birmingham was where he first realised he could become a professional footballer. “When I signed and started training with the first team, I realised I was just as good as some of the players there. That was the moment I knew I could have a career.”
Among those teammates was one of world football’s biggest stars. “I played with wonderful players, including Jude Bellingham. He’s an incredible player. The experience in England was amazing. It’s a completely different world.”
Since leaving Birmingham, Lupano has built up experience across several countries, spending time on loan in Ireland before moving to Greece, returning to Belgium and then joining Moldovan champions Milsami, where he spent the last two seasons.
“Moldova gave me the opportunity to play in European competitions, which is something special because not many players get that chance,” he said. “Many people thought we were lucky to become champions, but we had a very good team and worked hard to win the title.”
Describing his own playing style, Lupano believes his biggest strengths are his physicality and composure in possession. “I would say I’m strong, physical, comfortable on the ball and I like to play football. I’m also very passionate.”
Away from football, the multilingual defender speaks five languages – French, Dutch, Lingala, English and some German.
“In my free time I like watching movies, playing video games and spending time with my girlfriend.”
Lupano has already made three appearances for Vilnius club and in the last match in a goalless draw against Džiugas he was handed his first start in Žalgiris shirt. Next match for Žalgiris Vilnius will be on Sunday when they will travel to Šiauliai, while after that a trip to Montenegro for the European campaign starts with the first leg match against Petrovac.
